writer, editor, & animal lover

Why Twitter is Great for Writers

While many people think Twitter is just a waste of time or a place for celebrities to talk, I think Twitter is a perfect tool for a writer. Why? I’ll give you some personal examples of why Twitter is working for me.

-found a new job listing website for magazine jobs, @EdJobs2010
-emailed a Redbook editor who tweeted about a story she’s writing, @RedBookMag
-discovered great YA authors and YA supporters on the weekly Wednesday at 6pm EST #yalitchat (some recent discoveries @veschwab, @donalynbooks , and @PaulWHankis)
-chosen to review YA books for Chronicle Books (I love the books they publish! @ChronicleBooks)

Seriously, I love Twitter. I don’t have 1 million followers and I don’t have an iPhone. I check Twitter at least 5 times a day (though if I’m procrastinating, that number goes up).

Yes, it can be a distraction, but honestly, if you use it right, it can help you as a writer to find potential jobs; connect with editors, agents, authors; even promote your own work.

How do you use Twitter right as a writer? Here are my 5 tips.
1. Follow people, businesses, organizations that you are interested in. Every magazine, every little thing you’re interested in is on Twitter.
2. Retweet and respond to tweets as much as possible. Get involved.
3. Find a Twitter writer chat and join in on the conversation. There are billion out there. Inkygirl.com has a great list here.
4. On Friday, be kind and tweet about who you think should be followed. The hashtag #FollowFriday or #ff is used on Friday to share who you think others should follow.
5. Tweet about info that others can share and use.

If all of that sounds like mumbo jumbo to you, feel free to drop me a question in the comments and I’ll help you understand the Twitter jargon. And if you’re thinking to yourself, what the heck do I tweet about? Check out what your fave authors, publishers, editors are tweeting.

Get inspired and get out there! You can find me on Twitter @jchenwriter. Follow me and I’ll follow you!